What to do with leftover stew? I know it is better the second day, but no one at my house is good at eating leftovers. So I have to find ways of completely re-inventing the original dish, especially soups.
So I was browsing on the internet and came across a recipe on one of my favorite cookbook sites, the River Cottage website. I have their Meat cookbook and one of these days I’m going to try their meat pie, the whole reason I got the book. Anyway they made this stew pasties. It’s very easy to make you just pick out the meat and some veggies, make sure that they are bite-size pieces and enclose it in a flaky pate brisee. Mine came out a little dry because I feared that the crust would get too soft if I added some sauce from the stew. Next time I will just heat up some of the sauce for dipping or drizzling, or better yet thicken the sauce and put some of it inside.
Ingredients for crust
(makes 3-10″ tart shells, freeze the other 2 for later. Defrost in fridge the night before using)
2 lb all-purpose flour
1 T salt 1 lb butter or lard
2 eggs
1/3 c ice water
1 T lemon juice or clear vinegar
leftover stew or pot roast
shredded cheese of choice
egg wash- 1 egg and 1 T water
- Mix first 5 ingredients together till just blended in mixer with paddle attachment.
- Wrap in plastic and place in refrigerator for 15 minutes to rest.
- Roll out to 6-6″ inch circles.
- Portion out meat and bite-sized veggie pieces between them and sprinkle with cheese of choice.
- Add a little of the thickened juice from stew or gravy from the roast. Fold over and crimp the edges.
- Cut a couple of vent holes for the steam to escape. I sometimes do initials, because they want special ingredients like no meat or no mushrooms etc.
- Brush on eggwash and bake at 375F for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. The internal temperature should reach 165F with an instant-read thermometer.
Sweet & Savory 